What things are a part of your ideal session, other than the actual game?

What helps make a game session go from being good toward being ‘perfect’ for you?

It’s a matter of attitude, the right atmosphere, people being in the zone. As it is, I just had such a session that I felt was perfect.

In my Rise of the Runelords campaign, the party is currently investigating a series of murders. Ghouls have appeared and seem to murder people ritualistically. Signs point at a connection to the Foxglove family. The party went off to investigate the manor, commonly known as the Misgivings. The manor is full of haunts that reveal the history of the family, and as soon as the first haunt happened, I knew I had the players’ attention. I handed out handouts with a little story, as adapted from Misroi’s work on the Paizo forums. I used Syrinscape to enhance the mood, and time just flew by. There was no combat, and I have a couple buttkickers in the party who really crave combat, and even they had fun. That makes a session perfect for me. People who are open to the story, and stay in the game.

Other than that, I also like it when the mood is good, and we share a good meal. I like to cook, so often I will use game day to cook for the whole group.09